Path of Least Resistance

The trail of people who didn't even take a chance.

“The tendency to follow the path of least resistance guarantees failure in life.”

— Brian Tracy

In the spirit of the choices made being the summary of what our lives have become, I decided to talk about a path people find really attractive, a path that they automatically walk on, when they make certain decisions, and it is the Path of Least Resistance.

As the term implies, it simply means a path where things are pretty much easier, a path where you are the only one driving recklessly and with abandonment on a very wide and sophisticated road. Where you don't have to be careful, or do the tough things to get results. The Path of Least Resistance is the one in which you do not have to struggle for anything. And it sounds very blissful, if you think about it.

At every point in our lives, we are tempted to walk the path of Least Resistance. In fact, a lot of people are on that path, because they cannot come and go and kill themselves. But there's something that you should know, if you are thinking of venturing in that journey because things are easy, and you want the easy life; it is the fact that you would never, ever see a person of meaning, a person of worth, a person of any amount of success on that path.

Good things don't come easy. Success does not come easy, because success is its own result. If you constantly find yourself taking the easy way, doing the things that are easy and convenient instead of the things that are correct and necessary, you are on the path of Least Resistance, and it will not take you to your glorified goal.

If you want to lose weight, you have to work out. You have to take the pain. People who don't want to take the pain are the ones that walk the path of Least Resistance and buy different herbs or teas that burn out the fat, alongside various healthy organs, and at the end of it, they regret. The same goes for people who venture into get rich quick schemes and end up losing money. They are taking the path of Least Resistance. And that is NO path for a successful person.

It is true, what they say. Nothing good comes easy. If you're taking the easy way, just know you'd be really lucky to stumble on something truly good. Take the pain to grow. Decide that you will truly earn that success and that growth.

Now I understand why the Holy Book distinguished successes. There is good success, and then there is bad success. Good success comes to people who do things impeccably, as best as they can, putting their effort, losing their sweat, but bad success is the kind you get on the path of least resistance. It’s most likely ill gotten wealth that will never last but will have lasting consequences.

Decide today. You will stop doing things that are easy and convenient and start doing things that are correct and necessary. This is the path to growth. The path to success.

To your growth,

Abiola Okunsanya,

Handzinspired.